Dining Out

Top five vote-getters, as chosen by Artvoice readers, listed in no particular order. Winners will be announced at the Best of Buffalo Party, Monday, May 14, 6pm, at the Town Ballroom

Best Bagel

SPoT

Wegmans

Lexington Coop

Bagel Jay’s

Caffe Aroma

Best Bar Food

The Pink

Cole’s

Gabriel’s Gate

Brennan’s

Blue Monk

Best BBQ

Suzy Q’s

Kentucky Gregg’s

BW’s

Fat Bob’s

One-eyed Jack’s

Best Beef on Weck

Bar Bill Tavern

Schwabl's

Swiston's

Charlie the Butcher

Anderson's

Best Brunch

Empire Grill

Trattoria Aroma

Betty’s

Left Bank

Cole’s

Best Burger

Grover’s

Cole’s

Vizzi’s

Sterling Place

Soho

Best Cheap Eats

Amy’s Place

Louie’s

Mighty Taco

ETS

Pano’s

Best Chef

JJ Richert, Torches

Stece Gedra, Bistro Europa

Mike Andrzewski, SeaBar

Kate Elliott, Merge

Paul Jenkins, Tempo

Best Chinese

Tokyo Shanghai Bistro

Red Pepper

Great Wall

Taste Good

Eastern Pearl

Best Coffee

SPoT Coffee

Caffe Aroma

Sweet_ness 7

Cafe Taza

Caz Coffee Cafe

Best Deli

Omega

Globe Market

Jonny C’s

Marco’s

Joe’s

Editor's Pick: Best Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt - Sweet Jenny’s

To get away from the hustle of the city on a hot summer night, head over to Sweet Jenny’s (5732 Main Street) in Williamsville. Their homemade ice cream is not made with chemicals and it is made with real cream (and it’s local) instead of milk. If you don’t have time to sit and savor a cone, you can take one of Sweet Jenny’s hand-packed pints of ice cream home with you. They offer unique flavors such as cinnamon-nutmeg, oreo mint, and orange chocolate (which is made from fresh oranges). Sweet Jenny’s also serves a variety of candies and chocolates, which owner Tara Cadmus knows a few things about. Cadmus studied the art of chocolate making in France.

- jill greenberg

Best Dessert

Butterwood

Dolci

Delish!

Chocolate Bar

Dessert Deli

Best Diner

Lake Effect

Amy’s Place

Towne

Pano’s

Bertha’s

Best Fish Fry

Wiechec’s

Papa Jake’s

Wellington

Blackthorn

Hayes

Best French

French Quarter

Bistro Europa

Tabree

Left Bank

Rue Franklin

Best French Fries

Blue Monk

Jim’s Steakout

Papa Jake’s

Ted’s

Duff’s

Best German

Scharf’s

Ulrich’s

Prosit

Bistro Europa

Black Forest Adler

Best Greek/Mediterranean

Acropolis

Towne

Kosta’s

Pano’s

Mythos

Best Hot Dog

Ted’s

Louie’s

Taffy’s

Red Top

Lucky Dogs

Best Ice Cream/Frozen Yogurt

Laje Effect

Anderson’s

Charlap’s

Fran-Ceil

De Dee’s Dairy

Best Indian

Star of India

Taste of India

Tandoori

India Gate

Kebab & Curry

Editor's Pick: Best Meatball - Santasiero’s

It’s not always possible to meet up with the family for Sunday sauce, and when I need a recommendation for a good meatball, my parents always tell me to go to Santasiero’s. The restaurant, on the corner of Lafayette and Niagara Street, has been there since the 1920s in a building that was built in 1867, so they must be doing something right. To this day, when you walk into the restaurant and look into the kitchen, with its countless steel pots boiling up pasta and sauce, you will feel like you’ve gone back in time.

- cory perla

Best Italian

Sinatra’s

Trattoria Aroma

Chef’s

Mulberry

Frank’s Sunny Italy

Best Latino

La Galera

Cantina Loco

Sole

Papi’s

Niagara Cafe

Best Mexican/Tex-Mex

La Tolteca

Gramma Mora’s

Cantina Loco

La Galera

El Palenque

Best Middle Eastern

Mezza

Falafel Bar

Byblos

Amy’s Place

Shish Kabob Express

Best New Restaurant

Cantina Loco

Vera

Yolo

Black Rock Kitchen & Bar

Lucy Ethiopian Cuisine

Best Pancakes

Amy’s Place

Pano’s

Lake Effect

Bertha’s

Sweetness 7

Best Patio

Pearl Street

Frog Hair

Cecelia’s

Cozumel

Mother’s

Best Pizza

Bocce Club

Just Pizza

Mister Pizza

La Nova

Zetti’s

Best 2AM Eat

s
ETS

Mighty Taco

Mother’s

Towne

Jim’s Steakout

Editor's Pick: Best Manifestation of Burgeoning Burmese Population - Sun International Foods

The tiny kitchen and restaurant in the back of Sun International Foods (1989 Niagara Street) has been such a success that the owners have decided to lose the grocery shop in the front of the building to make way for more tables. The food is cheap, delicious. Try the tea leaf salad, the fish noodle soup, the fried eggplant.

- geoff kelly

Best Polish

Polish Villa

Bistro Europa

Polish Nook

Prosit

Gadawski’s

Best salad

Poppyseed

Pano’s

Globe Market

Cole’s

Kosta’s

Best Sausage

Mineo & Sapio

Spar’s

Scime’s

Hanzlian’s

Dash’s

Best Seafood

SeaBar

Hayes

Viking Lobster Company

Boston Hotel

Hutch’s

Best Soul Food

Nadia’s Taste of Soul

GiGi’s

Shango

Nette’s Fried Chicken

French Quarter Cafe

Best Soup

Brodo

Danny’s

Globe Market

Wegmans

Lexington Co-op

Best Steak

Russell’s

Fiamma

Buffalo Chop House

EB Green’s

Black and Blue

Best Street Food

Lloyd

Whole Hog

Roaming Buffalo

R&R BBQ

Hot dog vendors

Editor's Pick:Most Imaginative Kitchen - Bistro Europa

There are any number of high-quality restaurants in which a chef develops a repertoire of beautifully executed, palate-pleasing dishes and then turns his kitchen into a factory that perfectly reproduces those dishes night after night. And there’s nothing wrong with that. If you want to be surprised and intrigued, on the other hand, then tiny Bistro Europa (484 Elmwood Ave.) is the best place in town for you. The owners, Steve and Ellen Gedra, try and accomplish more imaginative things with the ingredients before them—pickled knotweed, arugula blossoms, lovely housemade charcuterie—than any other chefs in town. Make a reservation. Start with Ellen’s bread basket; order anything in between; finish with sticky toffee pudding.